‘Dawson’s Creek’ creator reflects on working with late James Van Der Beek: He ‘started out as a brat’

“Dawson’s Creek” creator Kevin Williamson shared the playful jabs he and the late James Van Der Beek would trade while working on the iconic teen show.

Williamson said Van Der Beek wasn’t the easiest to work with in the early days, while accepting the Hero Award at the Barbara Berlanti Heroes Gala in Santa Monica, California, Saturday.

“He started out as a brat,” he shared in his speech, as the audience laughed.

“He would get a script and he would call me, and he would be like, ‘Why do I have to say this word? Nobody knows what this word means,’” he recalled.

Williamson replied, “I would say, ‘Well, don’t worry about it, the way you mumble nobody is going to hear it anyway.’”

On a more serious note, Williamson noted that Van Der Beek gave a voice to his childhood, as he had based the character of Dawson Leery (whom the actor played for six seasons) on himself.

“He was the soul of the show … he was the ultimate upgrade,” he praised.

“I had the pleasure of knowing James over many years,” he continued. “I saw him go from a young kid to an extraordinary man, a husband, a father and a friend. James had a full character arc.”

“Dawson’s Creek” also starred Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson and Michelle Williams, and ran from 1998 to 2003.

Van Der Beek’s concerns about the script weren’t unfounded, as a common critique of the WB show is that the vocabulary is too advanced for how teenagers talk in real life.

He also recalled how he wound up with “almost nothing” from “Dawson’s Creek” back in a 2012 interview, despite the popularity of the show.

“There was no residual money,” he told Today.com, noting that he “was 20” at the time. 

“It was a bad contract,” he explained. “I saw almost nothing from that.”

The actor died in February after a battle with colorectal cancer. He was 48 years old.

He’s survived by his widow, Kimberly, and their six children — Olivia, 16, Joshua, 14, Annabel, 12, Emilia, 10, Gwendolyn, 8, and Jeremiah, 4.

In August, Kimberly shared a tribute to him to mark their first wedding anniversary since his death.

“16 years ago I was the luckiest woman in the world to marry @vanderjames,” she wrote on Instagram. “The beauty of this marriage continues to unfold everyday with all these incredible children we have.”

“He continues to be present and guide us,” she added. “I’m eternally grateful. 🙏🌹😍🥰.”